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Epicurus Sky Fortress
The Epicurus Sky Fortress, another Covenant vessel named after a Greek Philosopher, is the primary flying aircraft carrier of the Antarctican war fleets. Often used as a command ship by Covenant Castellan and Custodian Commodores, due to its powerful defences and significant firepower, as well as a great deal of style and comfort. With the ability to launch Drone aeroplanes from its large launch turret mechanism, the Epicurus can hurl the expendable craft into the midst of enemy forces while remaining at a safe distance. She uses her fire support abilites to destroy enemy targets from afar, or can get stuck into the fray and engage almost any target. Renowned for her extreme survivability, many a Covenant Commodore has declared the Epicurus as a significant factor in a large number of victories. If there is one vessel that exemplifies the superior abilities of the Covenant of Antarctica, it is the Epicurus Sky Fortress. Armament The primary weapons of the Epicurus are a pair of fore and aft mounted 36cm Rapid-Firing Cannons, in stabilised, recoil-dampening turrets- allowing the craft to fire without disrupting operations aboard the rest of the vessel. Alternatively, they can be replaced with Ranseur VIII Radiant-Energy Cannons, to allow long range fire support and enable the Epicurus to stay at arms reach from danger, further enhancing its already considerable durability. As a secondary weapon system, the Epicurus also mounts full port and starboard broadside gun batteries, providing the same degree of firepower as the broadside guns mounted on the Aristotle Class Battleship, with the advantage of a flying platform allowing better line-of-sight to targets. Although not technically a weapon, the launch turret could be considered more of a guided missile launcher than an aeroplane launch system. Covenant commanders often treat the drones this way, using them as expendable ammunition to fire at the enemy. The racks of drones, stacked like bullets in a magazine, do nothing to dispell this notion. Abilities As a Sky Fortress, the most significant ability of the Epicurus is to act as an aircraft carrier. As a Covenant vessel, of course, it does this in an unconventional way. Instead of traditional aeroplanes, the Covenant of Antarctica uses unmanned remote control aircraft known as 'Drones'. Compared to the carrier-borne aircraft of other nations, drones are expendable in the extreme, and are simply ditched whenever a particular drone has completed its task. In addition, they can endure less favourable transport conditions, allowing them to be stored in closely packed racks and launched under high acceleration- for example, from the launch turret of the Epicurus. With the reduced space requirements of drones, and the reduced need for pilots, the Epicurus is actually one of the smaller Sky Fortresses by sheer size. It is still a massive vessel, however, and moves slowly. An important secondary ability of the Epicurus is that of the 'drone relay'. This ability allows the Sky Fortress to control drone aircraft, using drone controller personnel. Not only does this allow it to control its own drone complement, but it can dynamically connect to drones from other locations- meaning that if a different carrer is lost, the Epicurus can prevent the loss of at least some of the drones controlled by that carrier. Generators As the drone launch mechanism, with its complement of drones and Sturginum-gel repulsines required for flight take up so much space within the Epicurus, she has space for only one generator- as with most Covenant vessels, this is a standard Covenant Shield Generator, capable of deflecting and absorbing the energy of blows that would otherwise have penetrated the Epicurus' armour. Notable Vessels *''CAS Voyager''- Took part in operations around Cuba during the Hurricane Season campaign. *''CAS Andraste[Player Background]''- Owned by this editor. Has gained quite the reputation as the luckiest ship in the sky, regularly swinging entire battles in the Covenant's favour, and shrugging off all manner of harm that should have killed her. Meaning of the Name The Epicurus is named after the Greek philospher of the same name. He said a bunch of stuff that this editor was too busy to note down, because he was watching his personal Epicurus kick ass across the board. Wikipedia has a bunch more information, here. On the Tabletop Pretty much as the fluff says- damn near invincible, throws drones at a terrifying rate, and has the gunnery to support them. Despite becoming more expensive in 2.0, the Epicurus is still one of the best models in the Covenant fleet. Many fleets include one by default because it just refuses to leave the board. Put it broadside-on to a target you want dead, then hit with with all those guns and drones, and there probably won't be a target there for very long. Useful as a psychological weapon, too- take one a few times, and your opponets will either put all their resources into killing it, or just avoid it (and fail at either) in every game afterwards. As standard for CoA models, is pretty much the best looking model in her designation. Category:Aerial Category:Covenant of Antarctica Category:Capital